The present invention relates to vehicle navigation systems. More specifically, the invention relates to the improvements in the display of points of interest by vehicle navigation systems.
Vehicle navigation systems have become more prevalent in recent times. In conjunction with and sometimes in addition to the route calculation capabilities of the vehicle navigation system, landmarks and points of interest are referred to by the user. Typically vehicle navigation systems employ a map database wherein information such as digitized road segments, points of interest (xe2x80x9cPOI""sxe2x80x9d), landmarks, and similar location data are stored. Examples of points of interest and landmarks noteworthy to a user might include restaurants, hotels, motels, convention halls, tourist spots, museums, parking lots and automobile service facilities. Some vehicle navigation systems allow the user to input a point of interest as a destination for purposes of route calculation. For example, a user may have made reservations for dinner at a restaurant and might enter the restaurant name as the destination to allow the system to determine the best route to the destination.
Points of interest information is also provided in some systems as a user travels along a calculated route. For instance, vehicle drivers will often seek information as to the location of rest stops. Some current systems permit a display of rest stops within a predetermined radius of the vehicle""s present location. The problem with such systems is that they ignore relevant factors in determining which rest stops are displayed. These factors might include the vehicle speed, the category of highway currently traversed by the vehicle, whether the rest stop lies along or near the calculated route, and whether the relative location of the rest stop has already been passed.
Current systems typically determine vehicle location through the use of satellite based global positioning systems, or dead reckoning systems which determine a vehicle location based on changes detected and measured from a known location. Data as to the present location are then compared with the data in the map database for the category of POI sought. FIG. 1 is a map diagram for illustrating an algorithm used by previous systems for determining POI""s to display to the user. A vehicle 102 traveling in the direction indicated and seeking information as to a rest stop would be limited to the rest stops located within the map area 105 displayed. Even though vehicle 102 is traveling on road 107, constituting a major category of highway such as a freeway, the rest stops displayed would disregard this factor. The only ones displayed would be rest stop 110, located on road 109, a major highway parallel to the user""s route, and 111, a stop already passed on the route. That is, the system would fail to display the rest stop information most useful to the user such as rest stop 112, located just beyond the area covered by the current map display 105 and on the same freeway route 107 and direction of the vehicle.
Consequently, what is needed is an improved method and apparatus for determining points of interest to be displayed on a vehicle navigation system. In addition, drivers may have interest in additional information regarding a specific point of interest or desire the display of POI""s to be limited to specific categories or names. For example, a driver might be interested in the store hours for a specified category of store and perhaps additional information as to products offered by the store as well as sale items. Current systems deliver very limited information and often present the POI""s in a listing containing all categories sorted only by distance from the present location. Therefore, what is further needed is a vehicle navigation system which can more intelligently display information regarding points of interest.
To address the problems described above, the present invention provides methods and apparatus for presenting information regarding points of interest on vehicle navigation displays. Upcoming points of interest within a specified variable distance are dynamically displayed. In accordance with the present invention, the points of interest displayed are alternately determined in accordance with the vehicle""s present location within a densely digitized area such as a city, its location along a more rural route, or whether the vehicle is travelling along a route calculated by the vehicle navigation system. To achieve the foregoing, the present invention provides a computer implemented method and apparatus for providing a display of a plurality of points of interest in conjunction with a vehicle navigation system. According to one aspect of the present invention, a vehicle navigation system is configured to identify and display a plurality of points of interest with reference to the vehicle location, and to automatically repeat the display of the plurality of points of interest to reflect changes in the vehicle location. The distance with reference to the vehicle location in one embodiment is determined by the vehicle speed. Filtering mechanisms are also provided wherein the displayed points of interest can be limited to user selected parameters or categories.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle navigation system is configured so that the plurality of points of interest identified is within a radius of the current position when the current location is within a densely digitized area. When the vehicle is not within a densely digitized area, the plurality of points of interest lie ahead along the current road within a second distance. When the vehicle navigation system is operating in navigation mode, the plurality of points lie within a third distance along the calculated route from the available points along the route.
In another aspect of the present invention, the vehicle navigation system is configured to identify a plurality of points of interest using a corridor corresponding to the vehicle location.
Computer implemented methods for identifying and displaying points of interest are also provided.